Today's Opinions

A few days ago, the patriarch of our family, who suffers from dementia, vanished into the clear midday light of a beautiful Carolina day.

The police department of the town of Shallotte responded to our call immediately and began what was to culminate nearly 36 hours later in the safe return of our loved one —this husband, father and friend, who could not, indeed, have told anyone where he was because he simply did not know.

John Keilman’s letter in last week’s edition does a disservice to those concerned about our environment. He attacked two of county commissioners based on flawed interpretations leading to hysterical conclusions. He accused Pat Sykes and Marty Cooke of “hubris, greed and stupidity...” whose decisions would lead to “...the collapse of our coastal beach economy.” He obviously knows neither commissioner.

Editor’s note: The writer also is a member of the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners representing District 4.

To the editor:

Earlier this month, almost 300 people enjoyed a wonderful culinary experience in support of the Brunswick Community College Foundation. Bella Italia, in its second year, raised more than $50,000 for student scholarship support.

With a disregard for the truth, denigration of immigrants and multiple accusations of sexual assault of women, President Trump has shown he is ethically and temperamentally unfit to lead. Yet he enjoys support of a conservative base that includes congressional sycophants and many evangelical Christians. I believe Trump was correct when he said, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”

After more than four years of putting it off, I finally visited Cat Tails, a feline-only rescue and shelter in Ocean Isle Beach on Sunday. I’d avoided it for so long because when it comes to kitties who need a home, I want to offer mine to them — all of them. That’s how all six of my cats made me their mom.

Last week in the North Carolina General Assembly, we had a one-day session with committee meetings and votes on the class size bill, we had movement in the Senate on the GenX/Emerging contaminants bill, and I was able to attend some meetings in the district.

On Feb. 5 we were informed we would be in Raleigh the night of Feb. 7 through Feb. 9 for voting sessions. This changed several times, but I still went to Raleigh on Wednesday afternoon, although no votes were actually held that night.

Brunswick Community College deans, directors and program chairs use valuable advice from program advisory committees — made up of individuals from businesses, industries and transfer institutions — to make applicable changes to curriculum course offerings and/or in course delivery methods.

While attending the N.C. Association of Fire Chiefs mid-winter conference, I had the opportunity to talk with fire chiefs from all areas of North Carolina. They told me about the stress many firefighters have been under during the first few weeks of 2018.

The reason: The cold weather we experienced during the first month of the year — the frigid weather in many parts of the state — triggered an extraordinary number of fires and fire calls.